HARROGATE Autumn Flower Show is paying tribute to a band of brave hunters, who risked life and limb to bring us plants from around the world.

The theme for this year’s event at the Great Yorkshire Showground from September 15 to 17 is Postcards from the Hedge.

One of the Indiana Jones-style explorers to feature in the show’s exhibition is Reginald Farrer, who travelled from his home in Clapham, North Yorkshire, to Asia in search of new species.

Regarded by many as the ‘father’ of the British rock garden, Farrer was renowned for his unorthodox approach, including a habit of using a shotgun to spread seed on rock cliffs to achieve a natural effect.

Other raiders of the lost parks include Scottish born David Douglas, who journeyed to North America in 1823 living in tents and deerskin lodges, and travelling thousands of miles on foot, on horse and by canoe.

Douglas was killed in Hawaii aged 35 after falling into a pit. His lasting legacy is, of course, the Douglas Fir.

Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson was perhaps the most famous and prolific of the plant hunters. He brought back over 300 different species from China, including one of the most popular flowers of all time, Lilium regale or the regal lily.

Harrogate Show director Nick Smith said: “With the vast array of plant varieties now available to us, it is easy to forget that most of them have roots that reach the four corners of the globe and that a small band of dedicated people risked and, in some cases, lost their lives to bring us the exotic species to brighten our flower borders.

“We should also remember that less welcome invaders found their way to the UK during this great age of discovery - giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and Rhododendron ponticum were all brought to our shores for ornamental use, but are now regarded as serious threats to the British countryside.”

In addition to a range of travel-themed displays and exhibits throughout the show, Postcards from the Hedge includes special talks on the Plant Hunters by BBC Radio York gardening expert and former horticultural lecturer, Nigel Harrison. Lucy Cornwell, from the Non-Native Species Secretariat, will also be giving tips on how to recognise Britain’s most unwanted plants, and what you can do if you find them in your garden.

Staged at the Great Yorkshire Showground, the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show also features show garden borders, a giant vegetable competition, spectacular plant nursery displays and over 5,000 autumn blooms in Britain’s biggest exhibition by specialist gardening societies.